


Lucky

by stevetwisp



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: "Enemies" to Friends to Lovers, Anxiety, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, bradilo, melissa/milo/zack is implied, milo loves everyone, sort of a bradley character study??, the slowest of burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 15:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13954821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevetwisp/pseuds/stevetwisp
Summary: Bradley may be smart but Milo is lucky.





	1. Audition

Bradley was smart; he memorized every Shakespearean play for English class, he could do long division in his head and, he too, knew the blood types of all the presidents.

But Milo was _lucky_. It didn’t matter if Bradley set the record for most intelligent or talented teenager in the Tri-State Area, if he invented an elevator to Mars, or cure to the declining pistachio epidemic-Milo would still be the center of everyone’s radar.

 

Now although this was a reality Bradley faced everyday, and a reality he was stuck with, it didn’t stop him from chasing down something new to make him stand out. So here he was at the annual school play auditions. He wasn’t much of a singer but figured even a bit part could aid him in a skyrocket to school stardom, besides in this town anything can happen and stage presence was everything.

 

Backstage was crowded with overzealous and over anxious busy bodies and every one of them murmured slightly louder than the other. The theater wing was fairly old, built sometime in the 1900s from hardwood. It gave the auditorium a rustic look but made it difficult to stay quiet with creaking floorboards and hard to navigate without any lamps besides the houselights. And so it was dim in the narrow passageways between stages and every time a door slammed a new cloud of dust would be kicked up and the floor would briefly groan in agony. Bradley was sandwiched between Mort and the metal hallway door, which was not terrible because with so many sweaty kids in such a small place Bradley took solace in pressing his arms into the cool surface of the door to escape the heat.

 

Mort was rambling about the origins of the play the school finally settled on when the door was suddenly jerked open from behind Bradley. He stumbled and quickly composed himself seeing Milo Murphy squeeze into the backstage with Melissa and Zack in tow.

 

“Oh. Hello Milo.” Bradley droned in contrast to Mort who simply waved at the gang warmly.

 

“Hey guys! Am I too late for the auditions?” Milo greeted them with a smile. His shirt was untucked and there were grass stains and mud all over his knees and shorts.

Bet he’s got some story for _this,_ Bradley thought to himself, dreading the idea of sitting through another Murphy’s Law tableau.

 

“Milo? In theater? You do realize this stuff goes on live right? No screw-ups. No accidents. No _retakes._ ”

 

“Unlike picture day.” Milo interjected. Bradley scoffed, placing his hands on his hips, the old floorboards creaking under his feet.

“We were surprised too! But turns out Milo has a knack for improve.” Melissa chimed in with her usual knowing cadence.

 

“I recently saved an opera.” Milo added, to which Bradley simply rolled his eyes.

 _Here we go again_ ; and as if on cue Milo’s foot suddenly sank into the hardwood floorboards with a loud **CR-ACK** and he fell backwards, his hand shot out to the closest thing to steady himself and found a stray rope. Milo lurched downward until the cable was taut, keeping him steady. Unfortunately this specific rope was attached to a couple of sand bags, coincidentally hanging from a metal catwalk above the heads of the students in front of them. Slowly they watched as the cable came loose and proceeded to drench everyone but Milo, Melissa, Zack, and Bradley in a dry, grainy waterfall of sand.

Zack reached out and caught Milo as he fell further back, pulling him from the hole in the floor swiftly. Milo let out a sympathetic groan, “Oops. Sorry Everybody.”

There was an unenthusiastic response from the other kids in line as they attempted to pat out and brush off the sand.

 

“It’s-.. Okay, Milo.” Mort offered gently.

 

Bradley huffed, despite managing to dodge the onslaught of Murphy’s Law this time around and piped up.

 

“Oh please! If that was me I would have been furious-come on Milo, of all the places to be, you had to be here to jinx it up.”

           

Melissa glowered at Bradley, puffing out her chest protectively.

 

“You seem to be fine enough to hurl insults, why don’t you go ahead and get your audition over with? Then you can _leave._ ” She chided. Bradley stuck his nose up with another scoff,

 

“Fine! Watch how it’s done.” He pushed his way to the front of the line and sauntered on stage confidently.

 

While he began to address the teachers in the audience, Melissa turned to Milo and placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Don’t let Bradley under your skin- He’s just a grump.” She cooed to him quietly as Zack patted his head affectionately.

 

“He’s a little right… I didn’t mean for this to happen, I really just wanted to watch-“ Milo started as he saw Bradley on the stage illuminated in the spotlight. He was reciting a monologue Milo had never heard before but he was surprisingly articulate, his over exaggerated movements felt natural in a show setting and Milo thought Bradley was actually a pretty talented actor, even if he was a little rough around the edges sometimes.

 

A slow groan from the wood beneath his feet pulled him back to reality, he barely even realized he’d drifted away. Milo cast his eyes down at the busted planks below him. A lightening bolt shaped crack in the floor from the hole Milo had just fallen through jutted out across the stage until the tip of the bolt kissed the sole of Bradley’s shoe and with each step he would take the split would grow wider and groan louder under the pressure.

 

To Melissa, Milo had simply trailed off mid-sentence and gone completely silent as he stared out of the curtains at the stage. She was unaware of the classic Murphy’s Law type danger unfolding in front of Milo and so was taken by quite the surprise when he suddenly threw his arms up and ran on stage. Shoving Bradley off the opposite side of the stage, the wood finally gave out beneath Milo causing him to fall through the stage and floor and into the basement.


	2. Grasping

The gym’s support beams had given out mysteriously and center stage had collapsed with Milo on top. His arm was broken and they called an ambulance to bring him to the hospital but even during the commotion of being dug out from under the wreckage of the gym’s stage to being questioned by the paramedics Milo didn’t falter once.

 

Bradley watched, as he would cradle his damaged arm expertly positioned and skillfully gentle to minimize the pain in maximum capacity. He didn’t cry or even look scared or worried and there was only a brief moment when his face contorted in pain when the paramedic handled his arm a little roughly as the lifted him onto the stretcher.

 

Bradley felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach, watching the scene unfold in front of him. He hadn’t even moved from stage left where Milo had pushed him-where he would be safe, cloaked in the curtains.

A burst of nausea washed over him like a wave crashing onto a beach over and over in intervals, relentlessly. He would feel dissonant and then warm until his forehead was beading with sweat. He was incredibly startled but, for the first time in attending this school, Bradley didn’t feel his usual tug of jealousy as he watched a happy-go-lucky Milo be carted away to the hospital.

 

He felt fear for Milo.

 

            Bradley climbed down from the stage to join Zack and Melissa on the edge of the rest of their muttering class. Milo simply sends his friends off with a warm, “See you later, everybody!” as he disappeared out of the gym.

 

“There he goes.” Zack finally said as Melissa shifted her attention to Bradley.

 

“You okay? That was a close one; you’re like two to one against Murphy’s Law today.” She offered placing a friendly hand on his back.

 

“Is… _he_ going to be okay?” Bradley stammered glancing from Melissa to Zack, who simply shrugged in response.

 

“Sure, Milo’s tough! This isn’t the first bone he’s broken.” Melissa’s tone was reassuring but her words stuck Bradley like a sewing needle through a pincushion.

 

Bradley knew that things could go wrong but, he’d never seen Milo get _hurt_ before and he never considered it being part of the Murphy’s Law deal.

 

He suddenly found himself thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong and exactly how wrong things could go.

 

It’s one thing to have a bad day but it’s another to have 365 guaranteed bad days every year for the rest of your life and, no telling how bad they could be.

           

He blinked his eyes a few times realizing he had been staring and they were starting to feel dry. Zack began to pat his shoulder almost knowingly and offered,

 

“Why don’t we go visit Milo in the hospital?”

 

Bradley was overwhelmingly aware of the deep silence between the three of them and scoffed dramatically to hopefully shirk any idea of him feeling guilty from their minds.

 

“I _suppose_ I owe him a thank you.”


	3. Misplaced

With all the commotion it wasn’t very long before their teacher simply dismissed them all.

 

“We’ll do some re-auditions once the stage is fixed, until then someone make sure Milo is okay.” Was what the class was left with, although everyone understood that such a task was Melissa’s, and now Zack’s, job.

 

Bradley accompanied Milo’s student guardians to the downtown hospital where Milo was admitted.

 

“Hey Deloris, how’s the crew today?” Melissa exclaimed as the three of them entered the Far East waiting area of the emergency wing. Where the curtains were a pale teal that matched the lower half of the wallpaper in every room and the chairs that were lined up under a large flat screen TV hanging on the wall (playing news channels consistently), were covered in a cracked and yellow sun bleached leather. The nurse, an incredibly old woman with laugh lines deeper than the grand canyon, was perched behind a desk in the corner of the room who beamed back at Melissa with a smile like the sun.

 

“Melissa! You pretty girl, never far when trouble rears its ugly head for Milo, huh?” Deloris chortled gleefully from her chair before leaning up to gesture where the three kids could see.

 

“He’s at the end of the hall on the right, you’ve got perfect timing, I was just in there and he was getting antsy.” The nurse continued and Melissa thanked her.

 

“I don’t get it, shouldn’t Milo’s parents be here?” Zack pressed as they headed down the corridor towards Milo’s room.

 

“You know how Mr. Murphy is-they always get held up-especially in situations like this.” Melissa answered grimly.

 

“Whenever things _need_ to work out, it doesn’t.”

 

There was a beat of silence that Bradley couldn’t help noting on as it made him feel unbelievably uncomfortable.

 

“But, that’s why Milo’s got friends like us.” She concluded as they reached the final door of the hallway. Bradley let a breath escape him that he didn’t even know he was holding.

 

“Hey Milo!” Melissa cheered pushing the door open to reveal Milo sitting up in the hospital bed.

His expression changed from one of indifference to joy as soon as he became aware of his friends’ presences, even Bradley’s.

 

“Hey guys!” He greeted enthusiastically, lifting a casted arm in the air.

 

Zack and Melissa immediately joined Milo on the bed and began inspecting his cast and the various scrapes he had left over on his face and hands like two mother hens doting on their chick. But it wasn’t long before Melissa had the markers out and they were drawing on Milo’s cast.

 

His hospital room was empty save for a chair that held his backpack and a night table next to his bed where a nurse had left their clipboard, the note clipped to it simply reading “Milo Murphy” in rushed scribe, as if no other explanation was needed.

 

Bradley briefly thought of every time Milo must have been there and the knot in his stomach returned.

 

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and slipped his hands in his pockets, glancing towards the empty doorframe.

 

He could run right now.

 

“Wow, Bradley’s here too? This is the best hospital visit ever!” Milo chimed into his head and Bradley turned to his grin, Milo beaming up at him from the bed. He felt a tinge in his chest, like guilt, or like Milo was teasing him but he offered an awkward smile instead of the eyeroll he would usually send him.

 

“I-uh… Just wanted to say thank you for saving me.” Bradley felt like it took hours to get the sentence passed his dry lips and started to itch at his arm absent-mindedly.

 

Milo watched him with intent and polite eyes, he was smiling but his brows pulled together as if he was confused by Bradley’s words.

 

The room suddenly filled with unfamiliar voices and Bradley turned to see Milo’s parents appearing in the doorway, out of breath, and looking a little worse for wear.

 

“Milo!” They shouted in concerned tones, rushing over to him with hugs and kisses.

 

“Are you okay?” His mom asked, cradling his head gently in her arms.

 

“I’m fine, Mom.” Milo reassured in a bubbly voice as his father turned to Melissa, Zack, and Bradley.

 

“Thanks for looking out for him, guys-” He expressed with his voice full of genuine gratitude,

 

“-It’s comforting to know he’s got friends like you.”

 

But, Bradley felt like an imposter, he didn’t know these people, how could they know that Bradley had any good intentions? He’d only ever met Milo’s parents during field trips or special school functions. The kind where students would parade their parents’ around proudly and show off their achievements to them, while parents’ would do the same except to each other; boasting about their very special children and what a good job they did of raising them.

 

Milo’s parents were always very helpful and always very nice, which disturbed Bradley in a way he couldn’t reason with. Their sweet disposition towards him, despite not being Milo’s friend made him feel… _Weird._

 

He felt his throat go dry and began to tug at his shirt collar. He cast his eyes down at the grey tiled floors and prayed no one would notice him sweat.

 

“Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, glad you made it in one piece.” A new voice came from behind the rest of the group and they turned to see a tall, thin doctor standing in the doorway.

 

“If I could just see you in the hall so I can make my report.”

 

“We… Weren’t present for the accident, Melissa, Zack, you two were there right?” Milo’s dad wondered as both Milo’s parents moved to follow the doctor out into the hallway.

 

“Sure, no problem.” Melissa replied before looking to Bradley with a small smile, “We’ll just be a minute.”

 

Before he knew it, Bradley was alone with Milo in the hospital room. The silence blared around him making his ears throb as he strained to look at everything _but_ Milo.

 

“Thanks for coming to see me.” Milo’s voice sliced through the the silence almost startling Bradley and he turned slowly to face him and saw Milo’s friendly smile beaming at him once again.

 

It was almost funny seeing him look so happy despite the scene including the hospital setting, the cuts on his face, and the ugly white cast on his arm.

 

“Y-yeah well… I mean I owe you that much I _guess_ …” Bradley fumbled, pulling his hands from his pockets and noting how sweaty they’ve become. The words felt like cotton in his mouth as he fought his usual urge to simply chide Milo’s friendly advances.

 

Milo scrunched his brows together again, making the same face as before when Bradley thanked him, almost like he was confused and offended.

 

“You don’t owe me _anything_ , Bradley-” Milo stated in a soft but firm voice, “It’s just Murphy’s Law; whatever can go wrong, will.”

 

He looked down at his cast despondently before smiling at Bradley.


	4. How to be Uncomfortable

The rest of the day was a blur.

 

Milo and Bradley made awkward small talk after that and soon Mr. and Mrs. Murphy returned with Zack and Melissa.

The thin doctor gave Milo a look over before giving him the O.K. to go home.

Milo’s parents offered Bradley a ride home and he anxiously declined, something he regretted almost immediately as the hospital was quite a few blocks from his house and during his long trek home it began to rain.

 

And then it began to storm.

 

 

_“Whatever can go wrong, will.”_

Bradley’s shoes squished like bloated sponges as he crept into the back door of his house.

The place was dark and quiet and the house sighed around him as he closed the door, muffling the noise of the rain and thunder outside.

 

The kitchen was illuminated in deep oranges and reds from the setting sun as it pushed it’s way through the storm clouds on the horizon that Bradley could see from the front windows. The fridge and dining furniture casted black shadows across everything else; making Bradley feel like he was floating through an oil painting.

 

There was a note left on the kitchen table which simply read, “dinner in the fridge.”

 

Bradley opened the fridge door only to find a couple bottles of condiments and a practically empty jug of water. It dawned on him that the note was probably from yesterday, which meant his mother hadn’t been home yet and he hadn’t seen his dad in days.

 

Bradley found some bread and peanut butter in the cupboard. He poured himself some water and grabbed a box of dry cereal for later. He climbed the stairs to his bedroom and made himself comfy at his desk with his laptop.

 

Braldey wasn’t allowed to have posters in his room. When he was seven his mother decorated the wall above his bed with a large black frame inlaid with a tasteful painting of a single lonely lighthouse with some inane (or at least Bradley thought so) quote about determination and success. By the time Bradley was twelve he was routinely removing the painting every time he was alone in his room only to carefully return it whenever he would go out, or knew his mother was lurking nearby. After a few years he just stopped putting it back up.

 

Bradley soon realized that it wasn’t like his mother would ever notice.

 

She didn’t notice much.

 

But, Bradley still kept his things fairly neat and tidy, his books were organized alphabetically, his binders and notes all had files to be put away in. Even his clothes were hung up in his closet or folded in a drawer but, his bed remain forever unmade; his small idea of defiance against his overly immaculate room.

 

He opened his backpack and threw his schoolbooks onto his desk. He hung the bag off the back of his chair and began thumbing through his homework.

Bradley sat in silence for a little over a half hour until his phone suddenly buzzed, causing him to nearly fall out of his chair startled but, what really made his hair stand up was that it was none other than Melissa herself texting him.

 

He felt a lump in his throat form, trying to piece together a reason for her texting him.

 

Bradley liked Melissa, sure, but he wasn’t an idiot, he knew Melissa didn’t quite see him the same way he saw her so, why the sudden change of heart? At least that’s what he hoped until he swiped open the message to read the text:

 

**_Melissa:_ ** _Did you say something mean to Milo in the hospital room?_

 

The lump in his throat turned to a pit in his stomach as he scrambled to recount everything him and Milo discussed while Melissa wasn’t in the room. He mulled over everything in his head, _just awkward small talk and a lot of self-loathing_ , Bradley thought to himself, though he didn’t express the latter out loud. He did think about how Milo seemed a little distant, like his mind was far away when they talked but Bradley simply chalked it up to being previously in an accident.

 

Bradley realized he hadn’t responded and his phone buzzed again from Melissa.

 

**_Melissa:_ ** _He’s been kinda depressed since this afternoon; I’m just worried about him._

 

Bradley envied Milo’s luck to have someone like Melissa worry for him and quickly typed in a reply.

 

**_Bradley:_ ** _I promise, we only talked about the weather and stuff. I was trying to be nice; he did save me after all._

 

Typing that made Bradley blush, and sending it made him slam down his phone almost reflexively. He was suddenly overcome with the embarrassment of his own sincerity and even tempted to furiously text Melissa that he was just joking and wished _he_ broke _his own_ arm so he could avoid spending any extra time with Milo- but, he knew that wouldn’t be true.

 

Bradley’s palms began to sweat and he slowly doubled over to press his cheeks, now heating up, to the cool of the wood desk. He didn’t feel well, his heart rate was climbing and he felt an attack coming on.

 

“Why now…” He whined into the desk before he moved to throw himself onto his bed.

 

Bradley curled into the fetal position as he felt his body begin to tremor, beginning deep in his belly and climbing up to the back of his head. His heart hammering in his chest faster and faster until he was gasping for air, he rolled to lay on his back and try and regulate his breathing but, the fear was set in.

 

Bradley closed his eyes tight and felt the waves of anxiety wash over him like waves of water until they felt like hands of the undertow, pulling him deeper and deeper into the depths of darkness where his senses could be dulled.

 

And softly he drifted into the night.

 

 

The sound of a door being clicked shut woke Bradley from his anxiety attack induced nap and he sat up quickly in his bed, snapping his head around until he could see the glowing red light of his alarm clock through the darkness of his bedroom. It flashed 11:14PM and it was Friday so staying up wouldn’t kill him.

 

Bradley moved to his desk and turned his phone over to see one last message from Melissa from their previous conversation.

 

**_Melissa:_ ** _OK, I trust you. Thanks for your help today._

He stared at the words for a long moment before putting his phone down and flicked on his desk light.


End file.
